


After it All Ended

by giles_forever8495



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friendship/Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-10-09 11:09:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10410816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giles_forever8495/pseuds/giles_forever8495
Summary: After the fall of Sunnydale, Buffy and Giles find themselves in London starting up a new council. What happens when Buffy finds out the true nature of Giles's feelings towards her? And will their relationship survive another fateful prophecy?





	1. Chapter One - The Truth Unveiled

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after the series end. I ignore most of the comics with the exception of some minor details. This work will contain many spoilers if you haven't watched all of the seasons or read any comics. I hope you enjoy!

_I remember it like it just happened. She stood there looking at me as if she was lost and I was the only one who could help her._

_‘I was looking for some -- books. I’m new.’ She’d said._

_I couldn’t believe that she was the girl I had been looking for. I couldn’t believe that this beautiful young girl was the Slayer, and I her Watcher. So I spoke her name, and from that moment on I knew._

_Though, I was a blundering idiot. I scared her away. She would’ve said that I ‘totally wigged her out,’ or something along those lines. Those were the moments that she reminded me that she was a child. But a child I couldn’t stay away from. I had to protect her. I had to teach her. I had to remind her of her duty, of our duty._

_If only I knew the road we had ahead of us. If only I knew that months from that moment she would die but for the first time. If only I knew that she would fall in love with a vampire. I’d have stopped that if I had the chance, no doubt. If I could go back and change everything I would just want to give her back the life that she lost. But I can’t do that. I am forced to remember all of the times that I failed her in my responsibilities and all of the times that she had failed me. If only I knew she would give herself to him -- a monster. Maybe I would still have Jenny. Then again I don’t think that she would have stayed, not after she realized… No, she most certainly wouldn’t have stayed. So it wouldn’t be wise of me to dwell on my past with Jenny. Not when there is so much past with Buffy._

_So many times I have wanted to tell her. And so many times I was so depressed that I voted for self-destruction. I fell back into bed with an old friend whom I never wanted to speak with again. But when I saw the look on her face when she saw Olivia… I don’t know why I was angry. I should have been pleased with her jealousy. But instead I pushed her away. And I saw less and less of her. God, how I missed her so during those months. I was too bloody selfish. She needed to grow up and to have her time as a young woman. She didn’t need me, and I should have been patient. She treated me the same way she treated her mother. Maybe that’s why I was so angry. She still only saw me as a gross old man._

_But then everything changed again, as it always does. As soon as I was about to give up on her, she looked to me to be her Watcher again. I felt so guilty. I promised her and myself that I would never leave her. And I thought maybe that was a two-way street, until I saw her falling from the sky. She was gone. She left me here and she took part of my soul with her. I knew I couldn’t stay much longer after she was gone. The others didn’t fully understand, but how could they? They didn’t know. And it wasn’t their fault that they constantly reminded me of her, especially that sodding robot. Why we thought that was acceptable is still beyond me. I couldn’t stand any of it after that, not without getting physically sick to my stomach. If it weren’t for Willow and Xander I’d have drank myself to sleep every night until I joined her. If only I knew she were in heaven. I would have had peace with her death. Of course she was in heaven. She deserved nothing less._

_If only I could have stopped Willow and the others. I could have saved her so much torment. I remember that day too. She stood in the Magic Box talking shop with the others. I didn’t believe it had actually happened until I saw her standing there. My heart skipped several beats and if she hadn’t hugged me, it may have stopped all together. If only I never left. I had seen her grow up, though I didn’t want to admit it. Her mother died, she suddenly had a sister, and there was a hell god after her. She died, again. How could I have just left her like that? She needed time to heal, to adjust, not to grow up! She was already grown up. If only I had seen her hurt. I would’ve tried to do everything in my power to take that hurt away from her, but instead I left because I’m a bloody, stupid fool. I left her to seek comfort from another sodding vampire._

_I believe I hurt her worst of all. Sure, I came back, but I was too late to save her. I settled for saving Willow and left again. It was becoming a pattern between the two of us. We always seemed to be leaving each other at the worst moments._

_Now here we are. The world as we knew it has been changed forever: thousands of slayers all over the world, a new Council to find and teach them, thousands of new girls whose lives have been stolen too soon. And we did that._

_It has been two months since the literal fall of Sunnydale. I am still held up in London trying to run the new Council of Watchers. I didn’t want to at first, but Buffy seemed to think that I was the best for the job. And she, being the Head Slayer, was not one you wanted to argue with. We have been bartering with the old Council allies across Europe. It’s probably one of the most difficult things we could be doing -- rebuilding a new council -- aside from an apocalypse of course. And yet, that is not what has been keeping me up at night. Not the rebuilding and restructuring, not the open books on my desk that need to be studied, not even the new prophecy that has popped up. No, the thing that has been keeping me up all night is not a thing at all, but rather a person._

_I didn’t come to London alone. I came, of course, with my Head Slayer. My Slayer. Buffy Summers. And when we arrived in London, instead of getting two hotel rooms like I wanted, we are staying in my family’s home in Hampstead. No one ever lived here much. The place was always too big. My father turned one of the bedrooms into a larger library than the study had to offer. And my mother took kindly to tending the gardens. We spent some time here whilst my father had Council business in the city. I told her about this place on our flight over and apparently I gave her too much detail. Somewhere around the time I mentioned the gym, heated swimming pool, and the sauna she let out a loud squeal on the plane and made me promise that we’d stay here. I can deny her nothing. Although, having her here is somewhat like allowing someone into the most sacred part of one’s life. This is also where my mother died when I was a teenager. Of course, now that I think about it, if she were still alive and Buffy and I were going to London she would have insisted that we stay here and not pay hotel fees. So here we are, in London, in the home mother died in. In the home that now belongs to me I suppose._

_Mother would love Buffy. They are alike in many ways, but also different enough that I could fall in love with her. It happened that day in the library when we first met, and it only got more serious as time went on. Were mother here now, she would be the one that I’d confide in instead of this journal that no one would read. I would tell her all the stories of my time in Sunnydale. I probably would have cried in her arms when Buffy died. I certainly would have told her about my feelings for Buffy. I would have told her that I was so deeply in love with Buffy and maybe she would’ve been able to help me a long time ago. But being here now, after all this time, it feels like she is here. It feels like she knows._

_I find myself tiring now, finally. The sun is beginning to rise. We have the next few days off. I think I might like to show her around the city and spend some time showing her around the gardens here. I want to work up the courage to tell her about mother._

Buffy put the journal down slowly. She came into the room looking for Giles, but only found the open book with his handwriting. She thought it might have been one of his old watcher journals or maybe even the research he had been doing on the prophecy that he refused to tell her about. That’s why she picked it up and started reading. After the first couple of lines she knew she should have put it down, but her curiosity got the better of her. She was clearly not supposed to read this. But what was she to do now that she had?

She got up from his desk and crept out of the room. She wanted to leave no evidence that she had been in there.

“Buffy?” She heard him call from down stairs.

_Of course, the library, why didn’t I look there first? Idiot._  

“I’m up here!” She yelled back and made her way to the stairs before he could see where she had come from.

“Oh, good. You’re up. I’ve made breakfast if you’d like,” he motioned toward the kitchen and she descended the stairs to follow his pointed hand. She could smell the eggs, sausage, toast, tea, and coffee as she made her way down the hallway and into the breakfast room.

As they sat at the table together, Giles read the morning’s paper and Buffy formed a plan in her mind. They had the next few days off, and he had plans for her. She was going to make the most of it. 

“What do you think about spending the day downtown?” He asked without looking away from his paper.

She smiled wide, “That sounds like a great idea! I have the perfect outfit!" 

“I do hope you’ll wear sensible shoes. There will be a bit of walking.” 

She simply giggled at his annoyed concern for her footwear. “What time do you want to leave?”

“Maybe an hour or so?”

“Great!” She beamed and gave him her best smile. The smile he easily fell in love with. “It’s a date.”

Giles gave her a shy smile. He couldn’t tell if she was serious or not, but he didn’t want to have that conversation before spending the day with her.


	2. Love at Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I wanted to get this one done for you guys, so I decided to split this chapter in half. This first part is lots of angst and the next part is all things smutty. I do hope you enjoy!

The drive from the Giles family home into the city was not a long one. For the most part, the pair sat in silence: both with thoughts of the other stirring inside their minds. For Giles, he was equal parts nervous, excited, and terrified. Buffy had descended the stairs wearing a beautiful blue and white flower dress and a sweater covering her shoulders. Of course, she also had on heels, completely useless for the day's events, except for dinner that is. Nonetheless, he couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful she looked, today a special exception to her every-day-beauty. Her hair was pulled back a bit showing off her features, and her makeup was done just so that her eyes shined brighter than the stars. Giles couldn’t imagine how he was going to be able to stay focused on general tasks with her looking so brilliant. Then came the thoughts of all things romantic: would she react well to his ‘proposal’; would she hold his hand, or hug him, or maybe even kiss him; would she run off and leave him standing there like a fool? So many fears, and yet, Giles couldn’t imagine going another day without her knowing. 

Buffy had been nervous since the moment she put the journal down. Nervous and, of course, a bit determined. She certainly dressed the part today. She wanted to look grown-up and sophisticated for Giles. The past year and a half had been so difficult for them. With Buffy’s death, their fighting, Willow’s dark side, and the betrayal before the fall of Sunnydale, things between Watcher and Slayer were delicate, to say the least. When the time came to begin rebuilding the Council, it was Buffy’s idea to put Giles in charge and it was her idea for them to go to England together. They needed to work through their problems or else they’d be lost to each other forever. And she wouldn’t have that.

Buffy had been feeling it this last month, her feelings for Giles, they sort of came out of nowhere. It had been a few days of back-to-back meetings all over Europe. They hadn’t seen each other for more than a minute or two in passing. Giles had finally come home and he was sitting in the library with a book in one hand and cold tea in the other. He was studying a bit of the prophecy that he wouldn’t share with her. Apparently, with Giles’s source and his crude interpretation of the text, he didn’t want to worry her until absolutely necessary. She wanted to help in any way, so she settled for bringing him a fresh hot cup of his favorite brew. When she walked in she was amazed at the smile that graced his lips. Instead of taking the tea and continuing to research, Giles invited her to sit. They talked for hours, making up for the sudden absence of each other’s presence over the last few days. Buffy learned so much about him that night. She learned more about his past, a little about his time as Ripper, but mostly about what his life was like in England, pre-Sunnydale. It was the early morning before they finally went to bed. Buffy, however, couldn’t sleep that night. She was too preoccupied with the feelings that had begun to stir inside. She didn’t think that she would feel this way about anyone again and certainly not towards Giles. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized how perfectly right it would be, to fall in love with the man who has known her the longest and the best. In that arena, Giles’s only competition would be Xander. But with Xander and Dawn being all lovey-dovey as of late, and Buffy’s general brotherly-love of the man, a romantic relationship between the two would never actually happen. But with Giles… The possibility is there and she’s more than ready for it.

When Buffy came down the stairs, Giles was standing by the door. He wore a green button-down shirt that brought out his eyes – the eyes that she could never forget. The eyes that saved Giles when Ethan turned him into a demon, well his eyes and the fact that Giles didn’t own a real silver letter-opener. The point is that she has always loved his eyes. He was dressed so well and looked so handsome. She wondered if he would kiss her tonight, or hold her hand, or hug her. She wondered, hoped that he would do all of those things. 

Their drive came to an end somewhere near Piccadilly Circus. Giles parked the car in a semi-permanent location about a 10-minute walk from the Statue of Eros. There was now an awkward tension between them. Buffy wanted Giles to have his say first but she was also simply at a loss for words. Giles, being fully unaware of Buffy’s mutual feelings, was more nervous now than in the face of any apocalypse. He kept his hands stuffed in his pockets and walked at a slow pace next to his Slayer.

“So,” Buffy said finally breaking the silence between them. “Where are we going?”

Giles looked up a bit and glanced over at her bright eyes shining up at him. He smiled quietly and gestured in front of them, “Piccadilly Circus.”

“You’re taking me to a circus?” She asked in bewildered amusement. “I mean, okay, yeah. A circus. I love…acrobats…and other circusy things…”

He laughed, “Piccadilly Circus isn’t an actual circus, Buffy. The word ‘circus’ comes from Latin and means ‘ring’ or ‘circular line.’ In the 18th century, Piccadilly Circus took on the meaning of ‘buildings arranged in a circular line.’”

“Oh. Okay…that makes more sense. So what’s so special about it?”

“Well, there’s not a lot of actual significance for the area, as far as history is concerned. But it has become a meeting place if you will, much like New York’s Times Square.”

“Oooh! So they’ll be shopping?” She asked with a giddy grin.

“Yes,” he laughed again. “And I thought we might pick up some lunch as well. It’s a beautiful day out today.”

He took her around to a few of the stores and watched as she spent an obscene amount of money on clothing that she’d hardly wear. Around noon they stopped for a basket of fish and chips for Giles and a burger for Buffy. Once they started talking, neither one could stop. They finally took a rest with their lunch on the steps of the statue.

They ate their lunch in a companionable silence. Buffy sat two steps higher than Giles. He was leaning back in a relaxed position resting his elbows on the step that she sat on. Often, they would steal glances at each other frequently making eye contact and simply sharing a smile.

After they finished eating, Buffy took in the scene around them, “The area is beautiful, Giles.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it? Though I should say, I much favor the country. My family used to own some property in Somerset near the water. It was beautiful in the summer; we’d go horseback riding through miles of country land and then onto the beach.”

“Wow,” she said dreamily. The off-duty Slayer leaned towards her Watcher a bit nervously, “You know, assuming we get more time off, you should take me there…I’d love to see.”

“Really?” He asked quietly. He turned to look at her and found those same blue eyes staring back. It took him all of two seconds to realize how she had moved closer to him and how their bodies were now touching. Her legs stretched down his left side and crossed at the ankle, his left arm brushed against her hip and upper thigh. To ease some of the tension he was feeling, Giles moved his left arm behind Buffy so that his hand rested on the opposite side of her body.

“Yeah,” she said in a more breathy voice than she intended. She moved down one step to be seated more comfortably with his arm draped around her back.

All conversation fell away. They stayed seated like that, comfortably and uncomfortably all at once. Neither wanted to disrupt the situation, however. Giles had never been more comfortable in his life. With all of his time spent with Olivia, even with Jenny, and the many women from his youth, he had never been so at ease about showing even this little amount of PDA. He was essentially cuddling with his Slayer, with Buffy, in Piccadilly Circus no less. But still, beneath it all, he feared to make the wrong move. Buffy found herself enjoying the closeness with her Watcher. All thoughts weird disappeared. She could never sit in daylight with Angel or Spike (not that she really wanted to), and with Riley, it was always a competition. She and Giles had become equals over the years. Sitting here with him felt…right. She noticed as she watched the crowd around them, Giles’s hand was now resting against her leg and he was gently rubbing his thumb against her. She could feel it, his love for her, undying and true, all in that small gesture.

They watched the crowd pass by for hours. For some they would make up stories: the man and woman arguing at a café were upset over the paint colors in the new apartment, and it wasn’t until after she spilt coffee all over herself that he realized they could always repaint; the group of boys on skateboards were running from the cops for vandalizing a bunch of trash bins.

After a bit of laughter, Buffy took another look at the statue behind them. She didn’t pay enough attention in high school to remember much about the Greek gods, but she has begun to love hearing Giles go on about a topic she is unfamiliar with. “Hey, Giles?”

“Yes, Buffy?”

“Tell me about this statue.”

“Well, what exactly do you want to know about it?”

“You called it the Statue of Eros, right?” He nodded. “Okay, so tell me about that guy.”

“The statue isn’t actually a Statue of Eros. It represents Anteros - the god of selfless and mature love, not his twin brother Eros - the god of frivolous and romantic love.”

“So, why is it called the Statue of Eros…?”

“Eros is the god more commonly known as Cupid. The bow and arrow displayed on the Statue are common representations of Eros or Cupid, so people often mistake the name.”

“Oh, okay.”

Finally, Giles checked the time and began getting up. The dinner reservation he made was in a half hour and it would take them some time to get there.

“Where to now, Watcher-mine? I’m sort of getting hungry again.”

“Yes, I am as well. Actually, I took the liberty of making us a dinner reservation. Is that alright?”

“Sounds like fun,” she beamed.

He returned her smile, “Very good.” Buffy reached out her hand so he would help her stand. He was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t let go after they started walking back to the car.

With Buffy’s shopping bags loaded into the back, the pair drove another short distance as the sun began setting. Giles then escorted her to the top floor of a tall building with windows for walls.

“We have a reservation for seven o’clock,” he said to the hostess.

“What’s the name?”

“Rupert Giles.” 

She checked the list in front of her, made a note on the table chart, and showed them to their table.

Giles, ever the gentleman, pulled Buffy’s chair out for her and waited for her to get settled before he sat. She looked out the windows around them to see a panoramic view of London. “Giles,” she breathed. “It’s so beautiful!”

“Yes,” he agreed without looking away from her face. “It’s spectacular.”

Buffy turned back and smiled brightly at him, clearly missing his point of calling her beautiful. She began looking over the menu, trying and failing to find something to eat. “Everything looks so good! How am I supposed to decide between lobster, steak, or fish?”

He laughed quietly at her. Everything she did had amused him in some way. He loved her so much. “You did have a burger for lunch. Why not have seafood for dinner?”

“Hmm,” she thought aloud. “What are you getting?”

“Oh, I think I’ll probably have the shepherd’s pie.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s made with mashed potatoes, corn, peas, carrots, and ground veal. It’s layered with the meat on the bottom, veggies in the middle, and the potatoes with melted cheese on top.”

“Aw! That sounds good too!”

“You can always try some if you’d like.”

“Ooh, maybe I’ll do that. Then, if I get the fish you can try some too.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

As soon as they put their menus down, their waiter walked over.

“Good evening, my name is Edward. I’m going to be your server tonight. May I start you both off with something to drink?”

“Yes, please,” Giles spoke first. “I’ll have the house ale.”

“I’d just like water, please.”

“Of course. I’ll get that for you right away. Would you like to place an order now, or do you need a few more minutes?”

Giles and Buffy shared a glance, “I think we’re all set to order.” The waiter nodded to continue. “I’ll have the shepherd’s pie, and she would like the fish.”

“Absolutely. Both are wonderful choices. I’ll put that order in as soon as I can.”

“Thank you,” Buffy said, and the man went on his way.

“So,” Giles said with a cleansing breath. “Are you enjoying today?”

Buffy smiled, “yes! I love seeing the city, and I’m always down for Watcher/Slayer quality time.”

“Yes, I do suppose that’s what this is – Watcher/Slayer time.” He sounded a bit defeated. Is that all this is to you? Quality time? We live together. This should be more than quality time…

“Well, it’s more than just quality time…” Buffy said with a nervous laugh. “It’s…you know…you and me time...it’s, it’s…”

“It’s what, Buffy?”

“Well…I kind of thought it was, you know…a d-date?”

At this moment the waiter returned with their drinks. They thanked him a bit awkwardly. Buffy couldn’t make eye contact with him anymore. She knew how he felt, she knew how she felt, but she was still nervous and afraid that she was way off. Giles just looked at her with a small smile on his lips. She looked absolutely adorable. Her cheeks were flushed red and she was fidgeting in her chair.

“A date,” he said quietly.

She finally looked up to meet his eyes, “What?”

“A date,” he said more loudly. “I want to talk to you about something…”

“I know,” she said.

“I wanted to tell you…wait. You know?”

“Yeah. I…well I mean I figured that you wanted to say something…Giles. I have to tell you something. You might be kind of mad so try not to freak out.”

He nodded silently, begging for her to continue. She could see the rising tension in his jaw, so she took a deep breath and spilled her truths with one exhale.

“This morning I was looking for you when I woke up, and I thought I’d check your room first so I went in and well you weren’t there obviously, so I was about to go downstairs but then I noticed your journal on your desk and I thought maybe it might be that prophecy you’ve been working on and since you wouldn’t tell me about I thought I’d do a little snooping on my own and see what all the fuss was about, but then I was reading and I realized that it wasn’t your Watcher journal but your personal journal and then I couldn’t stop reading and…I’m sorry…” she finished quietly, finally taking another breath. The entire time she spoke she couldn’t look him in the eye, and now that she was done she stared solemnly at her hands clenched together in her lap. She felt like a child, confessing this to him, and she was sure that he would be angry with her for overstepping a rather large boundary.

He was quiet for a few beats, almost too long. Buffy finally looked up at him, with a shine of tears in her eyes, and readied herself to be scolded, to be rejected. But he surprised her.

Sitting before her, Giles wore a wry smile. He almost looked as if he were laughing at her. And he was, on some level, but not in a cruel way. He was amused with her outburst. He should be angry, he thought, but how could he be? She had known all along what his plan was and not only did she not reject him, but she welcomed all of his advances. She’d even thought, hoped, and called this evening a date. Looking at the tears in her eyes, he knew he had to say something to ease her worry, so reached across the table with open hands, silently asking for her to hold them. She tentatively placed her small hands in his larger ones, and he reveled at the soft texture of her skin and was still amazed at how small they were and yet so powerful. He folded his hands around hers and gently rubbed his thumbs along her skin.

“Don’t apologize, Buffy,” he smiled, “I appreciate your honesty. In fact, I am glad that you know because it makes this conversation a bit easier for me.” He took a deep breath and continued to smile at her. His heart was beating ferociously in his chest; he was sure she could feel the strength of his pulse. He shook his head in disbelief at how beautiful she looked, “have I mentioned how lovely you look tonight?”

She blushed deeply, a smile streaked across her face, and she let out a small giggle that sent his heart through the roof. She blinked back the tears, though now they were more out of relief than fear.

“I am a bit of a romantic, so I deeply believe in soul mates. And you, Buffy, are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with – my soul mate. So, I wonder if I might ask you to hold my heart. Because you see it already belongs to you. I have loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you.”

The tears fell freely from her eyes. She was beyond happy, filled with the most intense joy. She was crying and laughing and she just wanted to kiss him. Through her tears, and the well of emotion in her chest, she gave him a watery smile, “Oh, of course, Giles!”

“I realize this is a bit cheesy and overdramatic, but that seems to be our life, doesn’t it?” He laughed with tears of joy in his eyes as well.

And she laughed with him, the tears continuing to fall from her eyes. She needed to wipe them away, but she refused to let go of his hands. He finally released one hand and gently swept the tears from her cheeks and rubbed his thumb against her skin. She leaned into his touch and they shared this quiet moment together until Buffy whispered, “I love you, Giles. So much.”

It took them quite a few moments to regain their composure. When they finally did, the waiter returned with their meals and they gratefully ate in silence. It was funny really after they finally shared their feelings for one another, they found that there was little else to talk about. The small talk and ramblings didn’t seem enough to fill the gaps. And it seemed more and more evident as the night went on that the heated tension between them was building with every look, smile, and brush of the hand.

After they finished their meal and the waiter brought them the check, Giles paid and they headed back to the car hand in hand. Giles ushered Buffy to the passenger side and opened her door for her, but she needed him to know how much tonight had meant to her. She turned around, standing between the open car door and Giles, and she looked up at him and his shining green eyes. She smiled sweetly at him and stole a glance at his lips. She couldn’t remember ever thinking about wonderfully beautiful his face was, but in this moment she couldn’t deny it, she didn’t even want to.

The air between them was thick and filled with heat and desire. She whispered almost inaudibly, “Kiss me, Giles.” And he did just that.

He held her face between his hands and kissed her. It was equally gentle yet full of burning passion. It was soft and sweet and then hard and fierce. It was breathtaking. They clung to each other like someone drowning would cling to a life preserver. Buffy ran her hands through his thick hair, and Giles slid his hands down her sides and pulled her hips closer to him. A burning desire settled low in Buffy’s stomach when she felt his hard erection press against her belly. It caused her to gasp and Giles used that opportunity to deepen their kiss and explore her mouth with his tongue. They finally released each other when the need for oxygen won. Giles pressed his forehead to hers and couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips.

She whispered to him again, her voice filled with an aching desire, “Take me home, Giles.” 


End file.
